Table of Content

20 March 2010, Volume 30 Issue 2

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Articles

Pluralistic Discourse Analysis： A New Mode of Social Analysis

Xie Lizhong

2010, 30(2):  1-19. 

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Pluralistic discourse analysis is the analysis of the manner with which the discourse is produced， the channel through which it is disseminated， and with what rules in what kind of process． It is to analyze discourses from the stance of pluralism． Advocating pluralistic discourse analysis is to eliminate the influence of the traditional classic models represented by Positivism， Hermeneutics and Phenomenology in the social study． Pluralistic discourse analysis involves the basic procedures of analyzing discourse strategies and rules of discourse formation． This method is significant at multiple levels in our social studies．

An Ethnically Mixed Village under Clan Control： From the Perspective of Cultural Nexus of Power

Zhang Heqing

2010, 30(2):  20-44. 

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From the perspective of cultural nexus of power， this article profoundly presents the political structure of an ethnically mixed mountainous village， Benglan Hecao in Yunnan Province， which was traditionally controlled by the main clan and Bimuo the Chief. The author argues that the sociopolitical situation before 1949 was manipulated by the main clan and Bimuo the Chief， who acquired their authority and legitimacy by the rural cultural nexus and played an organizational leadership role in this cultural power nexus. Via manipulating the rural cultural nexus （the intraclan kinships and religious beliefs and inter-clan relationships）， the main clan and its Chief Bimuo were firmly in control of this rural society．

Ethnic Groups and Educational Inequalities： An Empirical Study of the Educational Attainment of the Ethnic Minorities in Western China  

Hong Yanbi

2010, 30(2):  45-73. 

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Through reviewing the literature both at home and abroad on educational stratification， this paper demonstrates the need to incorporate ethnicity in China’s market transition and the social stratification theory. Furthermore， ethnicity should be empirically examined from the angle of educational attainment. The main factors which affect ethnic minorities’ educational attainment are： urbanrural geographical disparities， occupational structures （classes）， cultural differences， and political processes. An analysis of the data from the 2004 survey of Western China has revealed the following finings： 1） the ethnic gap in basic education can mainly be explained by urbanrural and class background differences， with the effect of the ethnic variable being not significant； 2） the odds of high school enrollment of ethnic minorities are still lower than Han’s （Han is the majority group）， the differences being explainable in part by the urbanrural geographical and class disparities and in part by the cultural differences （such as language contexts） between ethnic minorities and； and 3） ethnic minorities’ intergenerational education reproduction differs in pattern from that of Han’s，with the former being mainly in the form of Resource Transfer in contrast to the latter’s coexistence of Resource Transfer and Cultural Reproductionsuch patter differences in turn differentiate the benefits from the educational expansion by different ethnic groups. In sum， although the educational attainment of the ethnic minorities in Western China is significantly lower than that of Han， the inequalities are results of urbanrural and class differences．

Organization， Work， and Emotional Alienation：A Study of Life Insurance Agents in Xiamen

Sheng Sixin

2010, 30(2):  74-100. 

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 When following the marketing model of the Western life insurance industry， China’s life insurers have executed a more aggressive emotional management of their sales agents． Due to widespread social resistance， life insurance agents in China experience negative emotions quite often． The overly commercialized use of guanxi at work has not only violated the agents’ preexisting social networks but also is hindering their development of new nonbusiness relationships with others． The working ideology of “embedding insurance into life； embedding life into insurance” blurs the boundary between work and life， which has inevitably made the agents’ work full of emotional conflicts． Although the life insurance agents have been trying to manage these conflicts through various coping strategies， their efforts will probably aggravate individuals’ impersonal problems， and will finally result in emotional alienation as a consequence．

Fragile Solidarity： A Case Analysis of the Riot Chain in Tai Xing Factory

HuangYan

2010, 30(2):  101-115. 

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Globalization has been changing China’s industry structure and capitallabor relations. Working in a large number of Original Equipment Manufacturers （OEMs）， millions of migrant workers are faced with dual repression from foreign capital and local governments. However， these workers’ survival struggle is a weak one． From a microlevel perspective， this paper analyzes the reasons of the emergence of the resistance and the social structure for the escalation of the riot． The social origins of the failures or abatement of these struggles are uncovered in response to the observations by other scholars at home and abroad．

The Operation Process and Mechanism of Group Blood Donation in Danwei： A Case Study of University T in Beijing

Yu Chengpu

2010, 30(2):  116-143. 

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In the transformational context of China’s social structure and blood system， this paper takes the “Girl’s Day” blood donation activity of University T as a critical case to apply collective action theories to the analysis of the operation process of group blood donation in Danwei． The operation process of voluntary blood donation without compensation is actually a process of constructing and extending the meaning frame． Providing no compensation does not mean free of incentives． It is to downplay material incentives but to promote symbolic incentives by highlighting symbols， discourses， significances， and values． This not only displays high regard for the blood donators but also reproduces frames for blood donation． Group blood donation in Danweirelies on structural accessibility inside Danwei． With such accessibility high in universities， universities have naturally become the main body for group blood donation．

A MetaAnalysis of UrbanRural Differences in Happiness

Zhang Junhua

2010, 30(2):  144-155. 

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The metaanalysis of 18 studies about the urbanrural differences in happiness found a higher level of happiness among people living in cities and towns than those living in rural areas． The finding was reliable and the differences could be explained by social comparison and social adaptation． Publication biases were excluded as an explanation and the disputes on this issue in China were due to the differences in the instrumentswhen a study employed research instruments of higher quality， it was more likely to conclude that urban dwellers were happier than rural residents．

The Social Construction of the “Auto dream”： A Content Analysis of Auto Advertisements in Southern Weekly （1998-2007）

Lin Xiaoshan

2010, 30(2):  156-177. 

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In China today， owning a car has become a symbol of a happy life to most urban families． As an ideology of consumption， auto advertisements have played a great role in the social construction of the “auto dream．” This paper reports a content analysis of the auto advertisements in Southern Weekly （1998-2007）． The “selfhedonic imagination identity” and “socialreferencing success identity” are the two most important “identity strategies” with which auto advertising has constructed the “auto dream．” Their effect is far greater than that of the functional strategy in auto advertising． These hypotheses of the author’s are verified by the results of the content analysis． The paper concludes with a discussion of the social roots for the powerful construction of the “auto dream” in the recent 10 years and an indepth reflection upon this dream’s potential social consequences．

The Internet and Contentious Actions： Theoretical Models， the China Experience， and Future Research Directions

Huang Ronggui

2010, 30(2):  178-197. 

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 With a significant impact of the Internet on contentious actions， studies on this topic have been burgeoning． However， these studies are scattered across different disciplines， resulting in a lack of a coherent interdisciplinary theoretical framework， which has hindered further development in this research field． This paper reviews the relevant studies and classifies three theoretical models regarding the Internet influencing contentious actions． In addition， with a review of the research findings in the Chinese contexts including the Internet and contentious actions and the development of civic society， the author presents a brief discussion on the directions of future research．

From Strategies to Ethics：A Critique of the “Rightful Resistance”

Wu Changqing

2010, 30(2):  198-214. 

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This paper contends that， due to the influence from the concept of “rightful resistance，” current studies on rural protests have overemphasized the strategies in the protest process but neglected the importance of the ethics． After summarizing the insights from the “rightful resistance，” the author points out its limitation and tries to remedy it by bringing in the ethical perspective． The paper then moves on to describe the research process with the ethical perspective． Finally， on the basis of the author's field research， the paper discusses the original explanatory power of ethics in the rural protest research．

Analysis of the Validity and Limit of “Individualistic Resistance” from the Subaltern Society in Contemporary China： A Report from the HIVRidden Villages in Hubei Province and Henan Province

Wang Hongwei

2010, 30(2):  215-234. 

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Through the investigation of resistance of those in the AIDS villages in the HIVridden areas in Hubei province and Henan province， the author proposes two kinds of sociologic logics of social resistance in the subaltern society of contemporary China： externally relied “rulebased resistance” and internally relied “individualistic resistance．” They have both become the most convincible sociologic analysis frames to account for the social resistance in the current Chinese subaltern society yet they differ in logics． This paper originally examines the formation mechanism and operating rules of the “individualistic resistance” mode， which leads to the discovery of the trends of nonpolitics， weak organization， and tangiblebenefit focus in the resistance in the rural subaltern society， making “organized” political protests up to a revolutionized turn far away from the reach．

 

Social Ideology and Its Modernity：An Executive Summary of the 7th Annual Meeting on the History of Chinese Social Ideology

Dong Yunsheng

2010, 30(2):  235-240. 

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